We see change in Indian IT biz model with new onshore centres

On April 6, 2018, USCIS announced that it has received more than enough H-1B petitions to meet the numerical limit for fiscal year 2018 cap-subject H-1B visas, which includes both the 65,000 general H-1B cap petitions as well as the 20,000 US master’s degree H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with US advanced degrees.

According to US government, H1-B applications for FY19 hit the cap in four working days since it started accepting applications on April 2, 2018. (Reuters)

According to US government, H1-B applications for FY19 hit the cap in four working days since it started accepting applications on April 2, 2018. Since there is no change in the visa cap, we expect increased economic activity and restrictive policies of the US government to restrict visa access for Indian IT. This cap has been reached despite multiple restrictions imposed by the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) for visa application filings. There has been a decline in the visa applications filed by the Indian IT companies over the last year. Moreover, recent changes in regulations could trigger higher H-1B visa rejection rate for Indian IT. On April 6, 2018, USCIS announced that it has received more than enough H-1B petitions to meet the numerical limit for fiscal year 2018 cap-subject H-1B visas, which includes both the 65,000 general H-1B cap petitions as well as the 20,000 US master’s degree H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with US advanced degrees. This is the sixth year in a row that the cap reached in the first five business days, triggering selection by lottery.

This development comes amidst recent changes in the H-1B regulations which include suspension of premium processing of H-1B visas for six months (September 10, 2018). Duplicate applications (IT companies use to file for multiple applications to have greater chance in getting through the lottery had become a normal practice), applications without a specific employment start date, and words like “ASAP” or “subject to approval” would be subject to rejection. Moreover, the regulations of previous year like restriction on entry level computer programmer stays. We expected increased scrutiny to further restrict the visa allocation to Indian IT. We continue to see tweaking in the business model for Indian IT with accelerated onsite hiring and new onshore centres.